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BEFORE   THE 


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EAGLES'    WINGS 


BACCALAUREATE     SERMON, 


DELIVERED    AT 


W I L LI  AM S T O WN ,'  M S 


"       •.    -.   J         6 


»      •       O        '        V^ 


AUGUST   1,   1858. 


BY    MARK    HOPKINS,   D.  D. 

President  of  'Williams  College. 


PUBLISHED    BY   KEQUEST   OF  THE   CLASS. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MARVIN  &  SON,  42  CONGRKSS  STREET. 

1  868. 


a 


•      i       'nr'  •       •    •      •      « , 


Entered  ac<^{di9g.«a4et  •<  Congrttss.in  ^be  year  1858, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


3> 


SERMON. 


ISAIAH  XL.  30,  31. 

EVEN  THE  YOUTHS  SHALL  FAINT  AND  BE  WEARY,  AND  THE  YOUNG  MEN 
SHALL  UTTERLY  FALL  :  BUT  THEY  THAT  WAIT  UPON  THE  LORD  SHALL 
RENEW  THEIR  STRENGTH  ;  THEY  SHALL  MOUNT  UP  WITH  WINGS  AS 
EAGLES  ;  THEY  SHALL  RUN,  AND  NOT  BE  WEARY  ;  AND  THEY  SHALL 
WALK,   AND  NOT  FAINT. 

Have  we  then,  here,  an  exception  to  the  great 
law  of  decay  1  Is  there  any  thing  that  begins  to 
be,  and  grows,  that  does  not  reach  an  appointed 
limit,  and  then  go  back '?  Is  not  the  daily  move- 
ment of  the  sun  in  the  heavens  the  fit  emblem  of 
every  living  thing  that  he  looks  upon  in  his  cir- 
cuit 1  He  comes  out  of  his  chamber  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  he  climbs  the  eastern  sky ;  he  reaches  his 
meridian  height,  and  then  declines  to  his  setting. 
So  it  is  with  every  blade  of  grass,  with  every  shrub, 
with  every  tree ;  so  with  every  insect  and  animal, 
from  the  animalcule  to  the  elephant ;  so  it  is  with 
the  physical  system  of  man,  and  so  with  his  mental 
faculties.  And  not  only  do  change  and  decay  affect 
every  organized  being,  but  also  the  empires  of  men 
and  their  monuments,  and  even  the  face  of  nature 
itself.  "  And  surely  the  mountain  falling  cometh 
to  nought,  and  the  rock  is  removed  out  of  his 
place ;  the  waters  wear  the  stones ;  thou  washest 
away  the  things  that  grow  out  of  the  dust  of  the 
earth;    and    thou   destroyest   the   hope   of  man." 


V  Thrpughi^i^t  .this  universe  nothing  is  at  rest.  'Jliere 
is  perwiaWncp -o.^ly  fiorii  change.  The  stability  of 
the  heavens  is  from  their  motion ;  the  permanence 
of  our  bodies  is  by  constant  waste  and  supply. 
Whether  the  movements  in  the  heavens  will  be 
perpetual  we  know  not,  but  in  the  march  of  life 
every  step  is  towards  death.     The  movement  there 

^    tends  to  a  cessation,  and  that  cessation  is  death. 

It  is  this  certainty  of  decay  that  gives  a  tinge  of 
sadness  to  the  scenes  that  are  the  most  full  of  life. 
In  the  deepest  green  of  the  mountain  side,  the  pro- 
phetic eye  sees  the  "  sere  and  yellow  leaf ;  "  in  the 
gayest  assembly  of  the  young,  it  sees  the  gray  hair 
and  tottering  age. 

But  to  this  law  we  find  in  the  text,  and  in  the 
Bible  generally,  an  exception.  We  are  told  that 
"  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that 
shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day  " — that 
"  the  righteous  shall  hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that 
hath  clean  hands  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger  " — 
that  "  they  shall  go  from  strength  to  strength  " — 
that  "  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles  ; 
they  shall  run,  and  not  be  weary ;  and  they  shall 
walk,  and  not  faint." 

^  So,  likewise,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  to  be 
subject  to  the  decays  of  other  kingdoms.  "  Of  the 
increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall 
be  no  end."  "  And  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left 
to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and 
consume  all  other  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for- 
ever." "  His  throne  shall  be  established  forever  as 
/  the  moon,  and  as  a  faithful  witness  in  heaven." 
"  His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which 


shall  not  pass  away ;  and  his  kingdom  that  which 
shall  not  be  destroyed." 

Here,  in  those  who  wait  on  God,  we  have  an 
alleged  exception  to  the  law  of  decay. 

What  then  is  it  to  w  ait  on  God  1  It  is  not  to 
w^ait  for  him  in  an  indolent  passivity.  It  supposes 
that  "  all  our  springs  are  in  him,"  and  that  there  is 
an  open  channel  of  communication  between  him 
and  us ;  so  that  the  resources  of  his  omnipotence 
may  flow^  in  to  us,  and  supplement  our  weaknesses 
and  infirmities.  Its  elements  are  expectation  and 
trust.  It  implies  ends  sought  in  sympathy  with 
God,  and  a  sense  of  dependence  on  him  actively 
expressed.  It  is  as  when  a  captive,  who  cannot 
redeem  himself,  waits  on  and  earnestly  implores 
the  help  of  one  who  can  redeem  him.  We  do  not 
suffice  to  ourselves.  On  every  side  we  are  sur- 
rounded by  agents  and  elements  that  we  cannot 
control.  Beset  where  we  stand,  opposed  when  we 
would  go  forward,  we  find  ourselves  powerless  in 
the  presence  of  obstacles  and  foes.  Then  we  wait 
upon  God ;  our  strength  is  renewed,  and  we  go  for- 
ward. Plainly,  those  "  who  wait  on  the  Lord  "  are 
the  same  as  "  the  just,"  "  the  righteous  ;"  and  the 
doctrine  is,  that  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature  of 
man  is  an  exception  to  every  thing  else  on  this  earth ; 
and  that  moral  goodness  not  only  need  not  wane, 
but  that  it  may  have  an  uninterrupted  progress.  ^ 

To  establish  the  doctrine  just  stated  will  be  our 
first  object ;  and  to  do  this,  we  must  find  the  ground 
on  which  the  exception  is  made.  This  is  found  in 
the  very  nature  of  moral  goodness.  Moral  good- 
ness has  its  seat  in  the  affections  and  the  will,  and 


y 


these  do  not  so  decay  with  the  strength  of  the  body 
and  the  power  of  the  intellect,  that  that  goodness 
is  impaired. 

It  is  a  brave  and  a  beautiful  thing,  if  indeed  it 
be  not  rather  sublime,  when  a  man,  in  the  fullness 
of  health  and  of  strength,  is  required  to  abjure  his 
faith  in  Christ,  and  in  the  face  of  the  tyrant  he 
says  boldly,  and  even  defiantly.  No.  But  when  the 
inquisition  puts  its  victim  on  the  rack,  and  the 
power  of  endurance  is  tested  to  the  utmost,  and 
there  remains  only  strength  of  mind  to  apprehend 
the  question,  and  only  strength  of  body  to  whisper 
the  feeblest  No,  there  is  in  that  No,  a  power  that  is 
mighty  in  proportion  to  the  very  feebleness  of  its 
utterance.  Yea,  if  we  suppose  any  power  of  ap- 
prehension, and  of  expression  even  by  the  feeblest 
sign,  to  remain,  the  indication  of  firm  principle 
and  enduring  affection  and  moral  goodness  can 
become  strongest  and  most  affecting  only  at  the 
point  where  the  powers  of  the  body  and  of  the 
mind  flicker  on  the  very  verge  of  death,  and  at  the 
moment  when  they  go  out  in  its  darkness.  The  love 
of  the  Saviour  for  this  world  reached  the  crown- 
ing point  of  its  expression  only  at  the  moment 
when  he  "  bowed  his  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost." 

In  these  cases  the  exhaustion  and  feebleness  are 
indeed  from  torture,  but  the  principle  is  the  same 
in  natural  decay.  Had  the  affections  of  that  aged 
and  dying  Christian  grown  weaker  as  his  powers 
decayed,  who,  when  he  was  asked  if  he  knew  his 
friend  who  spoke  to  him,  said,  "  No," — if  he  knew 
his  children,  "  No," — if  he  knew  his  wife,  "  No," — 
if  Jie  knew  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  Yes,"  and  a 


smile  from  heaven  lighted  up  his  countenance  ; 
"  Yes,  he  is  all  my  hope."  In  such  cases,  the  em- 
bers of  a  wasting  animal  life  gather  over  the  "  vital 
spark  of  heavenly  flame,"  and  obscure  it.  It  seems 
to  be  lost;  but  when  it  can  be  thus  reached,  as 
sometimes  it  may,  it  is  seen  to  be  all  a-glow,  and 
the  light  which  it  shoots  up  is  but  the  brighter 
from  the  darkness  out  of  which  it  comes. 

It  is  conceded  that  the  strength  of  virtue  and  of 
trust  are  most  tried  in  adversity,  and  when  the  nat- 
ural desires  are  thwarted.  "  Though  he  slay  me, 
yet  will  I  trust  in  him,"  is  the  strongest  possible 
expression  of  confidence.  Let,  then,  the  decay  of 
the  powers  from  age  commence  and  go  on,  and  let 
there  be  perfect  acquiescence  in  this  till  their  ap- 
parent cessation  ;  and  how  does  the  power  of  good- 
ness, as  thus  seen,  difl'er  from  that  which  is  seen  in 
submission  to  a  voluntary  death,  and  in  holding  on, 
through  exhaustion  from  torture,  till  the  very  end  1 

The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  an  accountable  being, 
remaining  such,  can  be  placed  in  no  circumstances 
in  which  moral  goodness,  the  principle  of  duty,  of 
submission,  of  faith,  may  not  be  brought  into  exer- 
cise ;  and  if  exercised,  then,  by  a  natural  law,  must 
they  be  strengthened ;  and  the  more  difficult  and 
trying  the  circumstances  are,  the  more  strength 
may  be  gained.  It  is  through  and  in  the  very 
weakness  of  the  natural  powers,  that  the  moral 
powers  may  show  their  strength.  Only  at  the  mo- 
ment of  the  seeming  triumph  of  the  tyrant,  of 
disease,  of  decay,  can  humanity  pay  its  highest 
homage  to  goodness  and  to  God. 

In  the  struggles  of  men  against  evil  and  for  the 


if 


8 


ri^lit,  there  is  doubtless  given  the  special  and  su- 
pernatural aid  of  God  ;  but,  in  addition  to  this,  it 
would  seem,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  the 
exception  made  by  the  Scriptures  to  the  great  natu- 
ral law  of  decay,  is  itself  sustained  by  a  natural  law. 

Having  thus  shown  that  there  may  be  constant 
progress  in  moral  goodness,  we  next  inquire 
whether  such  progress  is  not  a  condition  of  the 
highest  possible  strength  and  perfection  of  the 
intellectual  faculties.  If  we  regard  man  simply 
as  intellectual,  will  he  not,  both  as  an  individual, 
and  as  a  race,  mount  higher,  in  proportion  as  he 
cultivates  his  moral  powers,  and  waits  upon  God  \ 

This  is  a  question  that  deeply  concerns  every 
scholar  ;  and  that  it  should  be  answered  rightly,  is 
of  much  consequence,  both  because  it  lies  at  the 
basis  of  all  right  education,  and  of  all  true  self- 
culture  ;  and  because  there  is,  to  some  extent,  an 
impression  that  skepticism  and  wickedness  are  nat- 
urally associated  with  intellectual  power. 

In  what  has  been  said  it  has  been  taken  for 
granted,  that  the  powers  of  the  intellect  really 
decay.  This  may  be  doubted.  Of  mind  in  its 
essence  we  know  nothing,  and  of  the  laws  of  its 
connection  with  the  body,  very  little.  What  seems 
decay  may  be  from  the  body,  and  be  only  as  a  tem- 
porary drowsiness.  Certain  it  is  that  the  intellect- 
ual, are  indispensable  to  the  moral  powers  ;  that 
in  the  nature  and  sphere  of  each,  there  is  equally 
a  provision  for  an  indefinite  progress  ;  and  that  the 
aged  must  be  supposed  to  carry  into  another  state, 
not  the  imbecility  of  a  second  childhood,  but  the 


9 

results  of  their  mental,  as  well  as  of  their  moral 
action.  Still,  these  powers  do  seem  to  decay ; 
between  them  and  the  moral  powers,  as  has  been 
shown,  there  is  a  broad  distinction ;  and  what  we  say, 
in  either  case,  is,  that  the  condition  of  their  highest 
attainment  is  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  powers. 

That  this  is  true  we  believe,  first,  because  of  the 
obstacles  to  intellectual  growth  and  progress  that 
would  be  removed  by  the  ascendency  of  the  moral 
powers. 

These  obstacles  are  prejudice  and  vice,  both 
of  which  are  inseparable  from  the  sway  of  pas- 
sion and  appetite,  and  both  of  w^hich  would  disap- 
pear in  the  full  ascendency  of  the  moral  powers. 
If  prejudice  may  not  be  said  to  weaken  the  mental 
powers,  it  misdirects,  perverts,  and  limits  their  ac- 
tion. The  power  of  the  eye  is  one  thing ;  a  clear 
atmosphere  is  another.  Prejudice  is,  to  the  mental 
eye,  an  indistinct,  a  colored,  a  distorting  medium. 
But  while  prejudice  misdirects,  vice  enfeebles,  or 
wholly  prevents  the  action  of  the  intellect.  From 
the  drunkard,  the  glutton,  the  licentious  man,  the 
gambler,  we  do  not  look  for  continuous  thought, 
or  for  any  rich  fruit  of  intellectual  culture.  They 
have  the  instincts  and  sagacity  of  the  animal, 
heightened  by  their  connection  with  rational  pow- 
ers ;  but  they  are  engrossed  by  their  vices,  and 
their  intellects  have  no  range  beyond  the  activity 
necessary  for  self-gratification.  Through  these 
vices  much  of  the  finest  intellect  of  the  race  has 
been  lost.  And  so  it  must  be.  If  the  swallow 
would  fiy,  its  wing  must  not  be  draggled  in  the 
mud ;   if  the  eagle  would  continue  to  mount  up, 


10 

the  animal  that  is  sucking  his  blood  must  drop 
from  imdcr  his  wing. 

/  But  that  the  intellect  will  be  most  successfully 
cultivated  through  the  moral  powers,  appears,  sec- 
ondly, because  it  is  lower  than  those  powers,  and 
subordinate  to  them  ;  and  because,  in  securing  a 
higher  good,  we  best  secure  that  which  is  subordi- 
nate and  lower. 

That  the  intellect  is  lower  than  the  moral  pow- 
ers appears,  because  it  is  conditional  for  their  ac- 
tivity. And  here  we  find  a  criterion  which  may 
be  universally  applied  in  determining,  both  in  mat- 
ter and  in  mind,  what  agencies  and  powers  are 
higher,  and  what  are  lower.  Always  that  which  is 
conditional  for  another  thing,  and  so  serves  it,  is 
lower  than  that  thing.  The  foundation  of  a  house 
is  conditional  for  a  house,  and  is  lower,  in  more 
senses  than  one.  It  is  indispensable,  but  of  no 
value  without  something  beyond  itself.  So  of  all 
the  powers  and  agencies  of  inanimate  matter. 
They  are  conditional  for  vegetable  life,  and  are 
lower.  So,  again,  vegetable  is  conditional  for 
animal  life,  and  it  is  lower  ;  so  with  the  heart  and 
the  brain ;  so  with  the  body  and  the  mind ;  and 
so  with  the  intellect  and  the  moral  powers.  The 
intellect  is  conditional  for  choice  and  activity,  in 
which  are  the  end  of  man,  but  it  does  not  choose. 
It  does  not  even  know  ends,  as  such.  It  can  judge 
of  their  attainability,  and  of  the  fitness  of  means  ; 
but  the  apprehension  and  choice  of  an  end,  and 
especially,  that  highest  act  of  the  mind,  the  choice 
J    of  an  ultimate  end,  belongs  to  a  higher  power. 

The  inferiority  of  the  intellect  is  also  manifest, 


11 

because  it  is  an  instrumental  and  not  a  governing 
power. 

We  cannot  too  carefully  discriminate  those  pow- 
ers in  us,  by  which  we  choose  ends,  from  those  that 
are  merely  instruments  in  their  attainment.  In  the 
one  is  wisdom,  in  the  other  talent ;  in  the  one  is 
character,  in  the  other  capacity;  in  the  one,  the  man 
himself  acts  in  his  whole  being,  and  very  person- 
ality ;  in  the  other,  the  faculties  play  on  the  surface. 
The  end  is  already  chosen,  and  the  whole  work  is 
simply  executive.  But,  as  has  been  said,  the  intel- 
lect does  not  choose.  It  is  an  axe,  a  saw,  a  hammer,  >y 
a  piece  of  machinery  to  be  worked  by  a  power  back 
of  itself.  It  is  a  Swiss  mercenary,  that  may  be 
enlisted  in  any  cause,  good  or  bad,  and,  as  such, 
is  inferior  to  the  employing  and  directing  power. 

It  appearing  thus  that  the  intellect  is  lower  than 
the  moral  powers,  it  remains  to  show  that  the  well- 
being  of  that  which  is  lower  can  be  best  attained 
only  as  we  secure  that  of  the  higher. 

This  was  illustrated  at  length  the  last  year,  on 
an  occasion  similar  to  this.  It  was  shown  to  be 
true  of  health,  and  pleasure,  and  wealth,  and 
reputation,  and  fame ;  and  also  that  the  principle 
implied  is  incorporated  into  all  the  works  of  God. 
It  is  a  great  law  of  nature,  with  as  few  exceptions 
as  there  are  to  most  of  her  laws  ;  and  we  may 
fairly  presume,  till  the  contrary  shall  be  shown, 
that  the  intellect  is  no  exception.  ~^ 

But  again,  that  the  intellect  will  be  best  culti- 
vated through  the  moral  powers  will  appear,  if  we 
compare  those  powers  with  any  other  force  by 
which  it  can  be  worked. 


12 

As  has  been  said,  the  intellect  must  be  worked 
by  something  back  of  it.  It  is  as  the  muscle,  that 
is  nothing  without  the  nerve ;  and  its  efficiency  will 
depend  partly  on  original  structure  and  on  training, 
and  partly  on  the  power  that  lies  behind.  That 
power  must  be  some  instinct,  tendency,  appetite, 
passion,  taste,  feeling,  some  capacity  of  emotion  or 
enjoyment ;  and  if  we  make  a  comparison  among 
these,  we  shall  find  that  the  moral  powers  have  the 
advantage,  both  in  strength  and  continuance,  and 
also  in  the  unity  and  harmony  that  result  from  their 
working. 

^  Man's  nature  is  not  a  hive  of  faculties  without  a 
queen  bee.  It  is  not  a  mob.  It  is  rather  a  com- 
monwealth where  each  has  its  place,  and  where 
there  can  be  strength  and  continuance  and  har- 
mony of  action  only  as  the  moral  nature  is  made 
central,  and  as  all  move  and  cluster  about  that. 

s/  If  any  force  can  compare  favorably  with  the  moral 
nature,  it  must  be  ambition.  But  ambition  refers, 
for  its  standard,  to  the  opinions  and  attainments  of 
others  ;  when  it  has  gained  its  end,  or  become 
hopeless  of  gaining  it,  its  efforts  cease.  Let  that 
end  be  but  gained,  and  it  does  not  require  the  im- 
provement of  time ;  it  knows  nothing  of  working 
in  harmony  with  God,  and  so  nothing  of  healthy, 
symmetrical,  beautiful  growth  and  development,  as 
good  in  themselves.  It  has  no  power  of  self- 
regulation,  and  so  is  often  consuming  and  self- 
destructive.  It  puts  the  mind  in  conflict  with 
itself,  and  makes  it  anxious  for  the  result.  It  is 
selfish,  repellant,  and  tends  to  isolation.  That  fol- 
lows here  which  follows   always  when  the  lower 


13 

faculty  is  disengaged  from  the  higher,  and  ceases  to 
act  in  its  light.  That  which  was  intended  to  walk 
erect  by  holding  on  to  something  above  it,  becomes 
a  serpent  going  upon  its  belly  and  eating  dust. 

But  the  moral  nature  is  stronger  than  ambition. 
It  underlies  all  true  heroism,  all  martyrdom,  and, 
by  uniting  us  to  God,  was  intended  to  be  the 
paramount  and  immortal  force  of  our  nature.  Let 
this,  then,  lie  back  of  intellectual  effort,  and  we 
have  a  permanent,  constant,  self-regulating  princi- 
ple, that  will  always  bring  the  faculties  up  to  the 
full  glow  of  a  healthful  activity,  and  forbid  them 
to  go  beyond.  Now,  the  standard  will  be  fixed, 
not  with  reference  to  others,  but  by  capacity  and 
opportunity.  The  mind  will  act  in  its  unity,  with 
no  conflict  of  its  higher  and  lower  faculties,  and 
with  no  fear  of  the  result.  Hence  there  will  be, 
not  only  strength,  but  balance  and  completeness 
and  order  and  beauty.  Not  only  will  there  be  har- 
mony among  the  faculties  themselves,  with  no  ten- 
dency to  a  repellency  of  others,  or  to  isolation ; 
but  it  will  be  felt  that  the  activity  is  with  all,  and 
for  all.  It  will  be  felt  to  be  a  struggling  towards 
that  absolute  perfection  of  one  which  is  necessary 
to  the  perfection  of  all.  y 

But  whatever  may  be  said  of  individuals,  of  com- 
munities there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  spiritual  and 
moral  elevation  of  a  people  would  certainly  secure 
their  general  enlightenment.  It  would  not  make 
every  individual  intellectual,  but  it  would  create  a 
summer  atmosphere  for  the  quickening  and  growth 
of  intellect,  that  would  rest  alike  upon  the  hill-top 
and  in  the  valley,  and  would  solicit  every  latent 


f/ 


14 

capacity.  The  higher  faculties  would  so  strike 
down,  and  stimulate  and  appropriate  the  lower, 
that  there  would  be,  if  not  technical  intellectual- 
ism,  yet  a  broad,  balanced,  directive  intelligence 
which  would,  as  by  instinct,  bear  society  on  to  its 
right  ends ;  and  in  the  light  and  under  the  stim- 
ulus of  which,  individual  growth,  whether  humble 
or  gigantic,  would  be  most  favored.  Then  would 
the  necessity  of  toil  be  no  longer  a  blessing  to 
man  by  keeping  him  from  mischief  Leisure  would 
be  a  blessing.  A  community  let  loose  into  that, 
would  rise  like  a  bird.  Under  the  power  of  moral 
motives,  leisure — the  power  to  do  what  we  please 
— would  be  equivalent  to  a  college  education,  and 
the  works  of  God  would  be  to  every  man  a  univer- 
sity. Without  these  motives,  even  a  college  educa- 
tion becomes,  within  the  limits  of  possible  grad- 
uation, a  systematic  evasion  of  study,  the  works  of 
God  are  a  blank,  and  this  furnished  world  becomes 
a  pig-stye  or  a  pandemonium.  It  is  in  the  use  to 
be  made  of  its  leisure,  that  the  problem  of  the  race 
lies.  Who  shall  drain  this  bog] — hitherto  a  bog 
bearing  weeds  and  sending  up  miasm — who  shall 
drain  it,  and  make  it  healthful  and  fruitful  ?  Tell 
me  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  leisure  that  a  ma- 
chinery, gigantic  and  tiny,  myriad-handed  and  half- 
reasoning,  is  beginning  to  give,  and  will  yet  give 
more  fully  to  the  race,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  the 
destiny  of  the  race  will  be.  To  the  opportunities 
and  facilities  it  will  furnish,  for  intellectual  and 
social  elevation,  there  is  scarcely  a  limit ;  there  is 
none  to  the  sensuality  and  degradation  which  may 
grow  from  its  abuse.     But  intellect  in  the  service 


15 

of  the  passions  tends  downwards.  Only  from  the 
sense  of  obligation  and  the  free  play  of  those  spir- 
itual affinities  by  which  we  are  united  to  God,  will 
there  be  the  broad  light  of  an  intellectual  day. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  the  higher  intellectual 
power,  whether  of  the  individual  or  of  the  com- 
munity, can  be  reached  only  by  waiting  on  God, 
and  by  the  culture,  through  that,  of  the  spiritual) 
and  moral  powers. 

If,  now,  it  be  inquired  how  the  impression  of 
intellectual  power  has  come  to  be  associated  with 
skepticism  and  wickedness,  an  answer  may  be 
found,  first,  in  the  fields  of  literature  and  specu- 
lation commonly  entered  by  the  skeptical  and 
licentious.  These  are  those  of  imagination,  wit, 
ridicule,  and  transcendental  metaphysics.  Often, 
pervaded  by  a  sneer,  and  quietly  assuming  the  false- 
ness of  religion  and  the  weakness  or  hypocrisy  of 
those  who  profess  it,  we  have,  in  novels,  in  poetry, 
in  essays,  a  combination  of  all  these.  Their  object, 
the  last  excepted,  is  not  truth,  but  impression  ; 
and  this  last  is  as  yet  so  overrun  with  strange 
terms,  so  the  common  ground  of  truth,  falsehood, 
and  nonsense,  each  aping  the  profound,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  it  is  better  as  a  hunting- 
ground  for  truth,  or  a  stalking-ground  for  vanity, 
or  a  hiding-place  for  falsehood.  That  there  is 
power  in  this  literature,  is  not  denied ;  but  the 
power  of  imagination,  wit,  assumption,  and  even 
of  bathos,  is  not  distinguished  from  that  of  fair 
and  searching  investigation. 

A  second  answer  we  find  in  the  effect  upon  the 


^ 


16 

mind  of  all  irregular  action,  especially  when  com- 
bined with  daring,  or  fool-hardiness.  The  utmost 
power  of  a  horse,  exerted  in  the  true  line  of  draft, 
will  excite  no  attention.  Half  the  power  put  forth 
in  rearing  and  plunging,  will  draw  a  crowd  about 
him.  A  cheap  method  of  notoriety,  the  world 
over,  is  this  rearing  and  plunging.  Sam.  Patch, 
leaping  over  Genessee  Falls,  could  gather  a  greater 
crowd  than  Daniel  Webster.  The  great  powers 
of  nature,  those  by  which  she  wheels  up  her  sun, 
and  navigates  her  planets,  and  lifts  vegetation, 
and  circulates  her  waters,  by  which  she  holds  her- 
self in  her  unity  and  manifests  her  diversity,  are 
regular,  quiet,  within  the  traces  of  law,  and  excite 
no  attention.  Here  and  there  the  quiet  eye  of  a 
philosopher  expands  in  permanent  wonder,  but 
from  the  very  fact,  the  greatest  w^onder  of  all,  that 
these  forces  are  so  clothed  in  order  and  tempered 
with  gentleness,  they  are  to  the  multitude  nothing. 
Not  so  with  volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  with  hurri- 
canes and  thunder-storms,  with  water-spouts  and 
cataracts.  These  are  irregular  manifestations  of 
the  great  forces  that  lie  back  of  them.  Compared 
with  those  forces,  they  are  only  as  the  eddy  to  the 
river ;  only  as  the  opening  of  the  side-valve  and 
the  hiss  of  the  steam  compared  with  the  force  of 
the  engine  that  is  bearing  on  the  long  train  ;  and 
yet  these  are  the  wonders  of  the  world.  So  with 
the  mind.  When  it  respects  order  and  law,  when 
it  seeks  the  ends  and  moves  in  the  channels 
appointed  by  God,  its  mightiest  and  most  benefi- 
cent movements  excite  comparatively  little  atten- 
tion.    But  combine  now  irregularity  with  audacity ; 


17 

open  a  side  valve  ;  assail  the  foundations  of  belief; 
make  it  impossible  for  God  to  work  a  miracle,  or 
to  prove  it  if  he  should  ;  turn  history  into  a  myth  ; 
show  your  consciousness  of  power  by  setting  your- 
self against  the  race ;  flatter  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury ;  dethrone  God ;  if  you  make  the  universe 
God,  yourself  being  a  part  of  it,  so  much  the 
better, — do  thus,  and  there  will  not  be  wanting 
those  who  will  despise  the  plodders,  and  hail  you 
as  "  the  coming  man."  -^ 


y 


I  have  thus  endeavored  to  show,  first,  that  moral 
goodness  is  the  only  exception,  on  this  earth,  to  the 
law  of  decay ;  and,  secondly,  that  it  is  the  condition 
of  the  highest  intellectual  power,  both  for  the 
individual  and  the  race. 

In  the  light  of  these  propositions  we  may  see, 
first,  what  must  be  the  essential  elements  in  the 
promised  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

They  must  be  righteousness  and  knowledge.  So 
says  the  prophet.  "  The  people  shall  be  all  right- 
eous :  they  shall  inherit  the  land  forever."  "  And 
the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace,  and  the 
eft'ect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  /> 
forever."  "  And  wisdom  and  knowledge  shall  be 
the  stability  of  thy  times,  and  strength  of  salvation." 
This  gives  the  line  and  order  of  eff'ort  for  all  who 
would  labor  for  Christ.  Not  for  an  unintelligent 
piety — well-meaning,  but  blundering — are  they  to 
labor;  not  for  a  superstition  without  knowledge, 
calling  itself  righteousness,  but  weak,  sentimental 
and  showy — bolstered  up  by  the  fine  arts  and  wire- 
pulled  by  a  hierarchy  ;  not  for  knowledge  without 


18 

righteousness,  sensualized,  self-conceited  and  pre- 
sumptuous ;  but  for  a  combination  of  righteousness 
and  knowledge  working  together  like  the  warmth 
and  the  light,  every  where  pervading  society  in  its 
free,  oceanic,  and  multitudinous  action,  and  building 
it  up  into  the  order  and  beauty  of  heaven. 
r  In  the  second  place  you,  my  Beloved  Friends  of 
the  Graduating  Class,  will  see  what  you  are  to  do 
in  carrying  out  your  own  education. 

That  education  you  have,  I  trust,  entered  upon  not 
wholly  from  worldly  ends,  but  with  some  reference 
to  the  state  of  your  permanent  being,  and  to  an  im- 
mortal progress.  For  it,  many  of  you  have  made  sac- 
rifices, and  have  applied  yourselves  laboriously  and 
faithfully.  That  education  is  but  begun.  Probably 
you  have  never  felt  more  painfully  than  now  the 
limitations,  the  inadequacy,  the  relative  nothing- 
ness of  your  knowledge.  If  you  have  any  thing 
of  the  spirit  of  the  instructions  you  have  received, 
of  the  spirit  of  a  scholar  and  of  a  true  man,  what- 
ever profession  or  business  you  may  follow,  you 
will  give  a  portion  of  your  time  to  the  cultivation 
of  learning,  and  the  acquisition  of  mental  power. 
Grow,  my  friends ;  seek  to  grow.  But  as  a  condi- 
tion of  a  growth  that  shall  be  permanent,  healthful, 
symmetrical,  do  not  ignore  that  interaction  of  the 
higher  and  lower  powers  which  is  like  that  of  the 
leaves  and  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  As  in  that, 
elaboration,  assimilation  and  ultimate  growth  are 
from  above,  so  it  is  only  through  the  higher  moral 
nature  that  the  sap  of  knowledge  is  converted  into 
wisdom.  If  your  chief  sphere  of  study  were  to 
be   the   abstract   sciences,   cold,   and    passionless. 


19 

where,  as  in  mathematics,  the  relations  depend  on 
no  will,  your  moral  state  would  be  of  less  moment ; 
but  your  chief  sphere  is  to  be  nature  and  man, 
where  every  thing  is  constituted  by  design,  and 
where  the  key  to  the  whole  structure  and  to  each 
particular  department  is  to  be  found  in  ends  and 
uses.  Here  love,  trust,  sympathy,  will  be  stimu- 
lants of  thought  and  elements  of  moral  power. 
Nature  is  from  God  no  less  than  mind.  It 
was  made  for  mind.  It  reflects  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  God.  It  is  understood  only  as  the 
thoughts  of  God  in  it  are  reached,  and  it  must  be 
that,  as  we  are  in  a  right  moral  state,  and  in  sym- 
pathy with  God,  we  shall  have  a  finer  sense  and  a 
quicker  sympathy  on  the  side  of  nature.  She  will 
open  herself  to  us  more  fully,  and  become,  in  a  far 
higher  sense,  a  companion  and  an  educating  power. 
But  let  now  a  man  study  nature  with  a  scoffing 
spirit,  and  he  must  fail  of  insight.  His  stand- 
point will  be  wrong.  Movements  that  are  onward 
and  beautiful  when  seen  from  the  centre,  will  seem 
to  him  retrograde  and  perplexing.  The  sweetest 
voices  of  nature,  her  hymns,  he  cannot  hear ;  her 
highest  beauties  he  cannot  see,  her  profoundest 
teachings  are  to  him  mere  babble.  Jeers,  sarcasm, 
fault-finding,  exciting  no  enthusiasm,  with  no  re- 
action on  thought,  with  no  element  of  satisfaction 
except  as  they  minister  to  notoriety,  will  take  the 
place  of  admiration,  love,  adoration,  by  which 
thought  is  naturally  quickened  and  rewarded. 
Would  you  study  the  works  of  God,  and  your- 
selves as  a  part  of  those  works,  be  in  harmony 
with  yourselves,  and  in  sympathy  with  God. 


20 

But  thirdly.  Not  only  are  you  to  educate 
yourselves,  opening  your  minds  to  all  light,  and 
putting  forth  all  effort,  but  directly  and  indirectly 
you  will  have  much  to  do  in  educating  the  commu- 
nity, and  you  will  see,  in  the  light  of  this  subject, 
your  duty  in  that  regard. 

You  will  neither  form,  nor  encourage,  any  ex- 
travagant expectations  from  what  is  commonly  called 
education.  Not  so  will  society  grow  up  into  its 
true  life.  If  there  be  that  above  the  intellect  to 
which  it  ought  to  be  subservient,  but  is  not,  then 
there  will  be  a  law  of  degradation  even  in  its  own 
activity.  Education  will  become,  either  simply  an 
accomplishment,  or  a  drudge.  It  will  do  nothing 
towards  removing  the  follies  and  weaknesses  of 
society ;  so  that  you  will  find,  as  we  now  do,  com- 
munities claiming  to  be  the  most  highly  educated, 
pervaded,  even  more  than  others,  with  a  credulity 
and  a  superstition  that  would  have  disgraced  the 
days  of  witchcraft,  but  without  the  earnestness  which 
saved  those  from  being  contemptible.  This  we  may 
satirize  and  deplore,  but,  under  the  system,  it  can- 
not be  helped.  The  only  true  method  is  that  of  our 
Saviour.  Nothing  now  on  the  earth,  or  that  ever  has 
been,  can  compare  with  Christianity  in  its  educat- 
ing power.  "Wherever  it  has  been  in  its  purity, 
the  standard  of  general  education  has  always  been 
highest.  It  is  so  now.  You  cannot  have  a  pure 
Christianity  without  general  education,  while  yet 
education,  as  such,  is  not  the  object  of  Christianity 
at  all.  Its  educating  power  results  solely  from  its 
reaching  and  controlling  that  which  is  highest,  and 
from    the    necessary    stimulus     and    rectification 


21 

through  that,  according  to  the  principle  laid  down, 
of  all  that  is  lower.  So  has  it  wrought  from  the 
beginning ;  so  will  it  w^ork,  and  only  in  and 
through  this  can  you  work  effectually.  Hence 
one  great  blessing  of  those  revivals  of  religion 
with  which  God  has  blessed  our  colleges — of  that 
revival  with  which  he  has  blessed  us  the  past  year, 
and  for  which  we  thank  and  adore  him.  Hence 
you  will  make,  simply  as  educators,  a  capital 
mistake,  if  you  do  not  seek  to  enthrone  Christian- 
ity in  all  our  seats  of  learning,  and  to  extend  and 
deepen  its  influence  in  every  possible  way.  Hence 
no  institution,  not  pervaded  by  Christianity,  can 
do  much  in  really  educating  and  elevating  the^ 
community. 

Finally,  we  see  from  this  subject  where  lies  the 
permanent  strength  and  the  true  good  of  man. 

It  is  much  to  know,  that  there  is  any  one  thing 
on  this  earth  that  does  not  decay  ;  that  while  the 
body  is  constant  only  by  change,  and  its  identity  is 
only  similarity,  there  is  in  the  mind  a  central  point 
that  is  unchangeable,  and  an  identity  that  is  abso- 
lute. It  is  more  to  know  that  in  this  we  find  our 
true  selves,  that  by  this  we  are  allied  to  God. 
This  takes  us  out  of  the  sphere  of  that  law  of 
uniformities,  in  the  light  of  which  we  have  hitherto 
chiefly  regarded  this  subject,  and  brings  us  into 
that  of  free  personalities.  Made  in  the  image  of 
God,  allied  to  him  as  personal  and  free,  we  have 
faculties,  call  them  moral,  call  them  spiritual,  by 
which  we  apprehend  him,  and  through  which  we 
become  receptive  of  influences  from  him.  These 
influences  imply  no  inspiration  of  particular  truths 


22 


as  to  prophets  and  seers,  but  are  open  to  the  race. 
They  come  as  the  tide  to  the  stranded  vessel  that 
gradually  surrounds  it,  and  lifts  it  up,  and  bears 
it  into  the  depths  and  boundlessness  of  its  appro- 
priate element.  By  these  influences,  respecting 
the  laws  of  our  freedom,  and  the  bounds  of  our 
individuality,  the  Spirit  of  God  enlightens,  sus- 
tains, purifies,  exalts  us,  and  makes  us  partakers 
of  his  own  blessedness.  This  is  the  Scripture 
doctrine  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that 
last  link  in  the  work  of  human  salvation,  by 
which,  all  incompatibilities  of  justice  and  mercy 
having  been  removed,  the  law  becomes  written  in 
the  heart,  and  we  are  brought  to  rest  in  the 
activity  of  a  full  and  unceasing  complacency  in  a 
holy  and  infinite  God.  Thus  God  himself  becomes 
the  portion  of  the  soul.  Thus  do  we  enter  into 
the  "  fullness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all." 
Beyond  this,  nothing  of  good  can  be  conceived  of. 
This  is  our  rest  —  our  ultimate  goal.  This  it  is 
that  we  yearn  after ;  in  the  congruity  of  this  to 
the  mind,  and  in  the  deep,  conscious  want  of  it,  it 
is  that  we  find  the  solution  of  those  enthusiasms, 
and  extravagancies,  and  distortions  of  the  religious 
nature,  which  have  made  religion  a  by-word. 
These  suppose  a  capacity  and  need  of  communion 
with  God  just  as  insanity  supposes  reason,  and 
they  will  cease  only  when  that  communion  returns. 
Do  you,  my  friends,  accept  this  doctrine  1  Will 
you  accept  it  practically  ]  Will  you  open  the 
way  for  the  coming  into  your  own  souls  of  divine 
light  and  divine  help  ?  Will  you  put  away  sin  ? 
This  is  the  one  condition  of  a  pure  light  and  a 


23 

true  elevation.  You  must  begin  with  the  heart, 
for  only  the  pure  in  heart  can  see  God,  and  only 
as  we  see  him,  and  in  his  light,  can  we  see  all 
other  things  in  their  true  proportions.  Will  you 
then  open  yourselves  fully  to  the  light  of  the 
divine  teachings,  and  to  the  intimacy  of  a  divine 
communion  1  (Not  only  morally,  but  intellectually, 
will  the  answer  to  this  question  be  the  turning 
point  in  your  destiny.  The  question  involved  in 
this  doctrine  of  a  divine  communion  and  help,  is 
the  cardinal  one  for  the  race.  At  every  point  this 
doctrine  meets  not  only  our  weaknesses  and  wants, 
but  also  our  sinfulness,  and  so  transcends  all  trans- 
cendentalism, and  all  possible  philosophies  and 
devices  of  man.  It  is  not  merely  a  philosophy, 
but  a  redemption  and  a  remedy,  a  companionship 
and  a  portion.  Without  this  doctrine,  man  is  but 
a  waif  upon  the  waters,  a  severed  branch  that 
must  perish.  With  it,  he  is  united  to  God,  and  so 
there  is  nothing  too  great  for  him  to  hope.  With 
it,  the  figure  of  the  text — "they  shall  mount  up 
with  wings  as  eagles  "  —  is  fully  justified.  See  the 
eagle  as  he  leaves  his  perch.  He  flaps  his  broad 
wings,  and  moves  heavily.  Slowly  he  lifts  himself 
above  the  horizon,  till  the  inspiration  of  a  freer  air 
quickens  him.  Now  there  is  new  lightning  in  his 
eye,  and  new  strength  in  his  pinions.  See — how 
he  mounts  !  Now  he  is  midway  in  the  heavens. 
Higher  he  rises  —  still  higher.  Now  his  broad 
circles  are  narrowing  to  a  point — he  is  fading  away 
in  the  deep  blue.  Now  he  is  but  a  speck.  Now 
he  is  gone.  To  the  eye  of  sense,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  figure,  it  is  an  endless,  upward  flight. 


24 

Such  a  flight,  my  dear  friends,  may  be  yours  ;  but 
only  as  you  yield  yourselves  to  be  upborne  by  an 
all-encompassing  and  an  omnipotent  Love.  You 
are,  inSeed,  youths,  the  very  youths  spoken  of  in 
the  text ;  for  this  word  is  for  all  ages  ;  but  in  the 
dusty  and  thronged  ways  of  life  you  will  faint  and 
be  weary.  Yes,  the  hours  will  come  when  you  will 
be,  O,  how  weary  !  You  are  young  men  ;  but  the 
strength  of  nature  will  depart,  and,  relying  only  on 
this,  you  shall  utterly  fall.  Only  "  the  Everlasting 
God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the 
earth,"  who  "  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary,"  can 
gird  you  for  the  coming  conflict  and  sustain  you. 
Wait  upon  Him,  and  you  "  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles  ;  you  shall  run,  and  not  be  weary  ; 
and  you  shall  walk,  and  not  faint." 

In  addressing  to  you  this  parting  counsel,  in 
which  all  is  thus  seen  to  depend  upon  God,  I  am 
permitted  to  address,  as  one  of  you,  my  own  son. 
I  rejoice  that  he  has  been  one  of  you.  And  now, 
with  the  most  pleasing  recollections  of  the  past, 
cherishing  for  you  all  the  spirit  of  a  father,  com- 
mending you  all  to  that  God  who  alone  is  able  to 
keep  and  to  guide  you,  I  close  by  addressing  to 
him  and  to  you  the  words  of  one  of  old,  who  was 
also  a  father.  "  And  thou,  Solomon,  my  son,  know 
thou  the  God  of  thy  father,  and  serve  him  with  a 
perfect  heart  and  with  a  willing  mind :  for  the 
Lord  searcheth  all  hearts,  and  understandeth  all 
the  imaginations  of  the  thoughts :  if  thou  seek  him, 
he  will  be  found  of  thee  ;  but  if  thou  forsake  him, 
he  will  cast  thee  off  forever." 


14  DAY  USE                     i 

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(N53828l0)476-A-32 

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University  of  California 

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Stockton,  Calif. 

T.IM.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


IV1114245 

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